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Talk of coordinator is impossible to deal with Wednesday, Nov 16, 2005 By Harry King LITTLE ROCK - With sales of widgets slipping for five consecutive quarters, the head of the division was on the spot. Citing his salary of more than $1 million per year, stockholders were publicly second-guessing his strategy. They said he wasn't aggressive enough, that he was spread too thin, that he needed to hire a super salesman with high-tech expertise. With no room for staff expansion, a new hire would mean letting somebody go. At home, spouses were worried sick that it was their husband who was going to lose his job and his six-figure salary. For comparable pay, they'd have to move and all of them had children. The company was such a matter of state pride that a television reporter did some investigating and came up with the names of some potential hires - two outsiders and one member on staff. The pictures of the three men were on the television screen and the man in charge was infuriated. By now, you should know that Arkansas football coach Houston Nutt is the man in the middle, that TV sportscaster Bo Mattingly had the story and that the wives of the Arkansas assistant coaches are the ones doing the worrying. You may not know that Mattingly introduced his story last week by saying that Nutt's position is secure, but that sources inside the program say his future employment may come with conditions, including the possibility that he will have to hire an offensive coordinator. Mattingly went on to say that three names have been brought to Nutt's attention and then he ran photos of David Cutcliffe, Gus Malzahn, and Roy Wittke. The following day, Nutt told Mike Capshaw of The Morning News, "There's been no such talk of coordinators; not one bit of energy has been put on that. That is just absolutely wrong." What else could he say, that a new hire is on the horizon as soon as the season is over? Imagine the paranoia from such an acknowledgment. Trying to please everybody, it's also possible that Nutt was upset that Mattingly was selective and failed to mention other coaches who might be under consideration. Meanwhile, Mattingly is sticking by his story, confident of his sources. Cutcliffe is the former longtime Tennessee assistant who was head coach at Ole Miss from 1999-2004. During his run, the Rebels were 44-29 and he was the first Mississippi coach to win at least seven games in each of his first five years. Even more impressively, he worked with Peyton Manning at Tennessee and Eli Manning at Ole Miss. He was going to coach quarterbacks at Notre Dame this year, but underwent heart bypass surgery in March and resigned. Malzahn is the offensive wizard at Springdale High School, which has run roughshod over 11 straight opponents. Looking at the Class AAAAA playoffs, the question is whether any team will prevent the Bulldogs from running the table with the mercy rule. I believe that Malzahn will be on the Arkansas staff - even that means somebody has to go - but I doubt that Nutt would turn the offense over to a coach fresh from high school. Wittke is already on Nutt's staff and is in charge of the passing attack. A couple of days after Mattingly's story, Arkansas had its most complete passing performance of the year and won its first Southeastern Conference game, 28-17 over Mississippi. That does not indicate additional input from Wittke as much as it indicates growing confidence in true freshman Casey Dick and the fact that the Rebels would not allow the Razorbacks to run. Arkansas ran for 89 yards, only the second time below 190 this season and the first time shy of 145, but Dick completed 12 in a row during his 17-of-24 afternoon. Shortly after Nov. 25, the comings and goings of the coaches will shake out. ----- Harry King is sports columnist for Stephens Media Group's Arkansas News Bureau. His e-mail address is hking@arkansasnews.com. |
